Letters, Feb. 22: Taxpayers on hook for bad FHA loans

BUENA PARK, Daniel Thurber: Maybe homeowner Andreea Stucker should thank taxpayers for getting a second bite at the

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homeownership apple through another government-sponsored agency, the Federal Housing Administration [“Distressed sellers make a comeback,” Real Estate, Feb. 17]. She walked away from her last home and, yes, the bank took the hit, but as we all know, banks pass those losses on to the rest of us through higher fees or rates on loans.

Now Stucker gets a loan through a near-bankrupt FHA and only has to put down 3 percent, where Fannie Mae or and Freddie Mac require a minimum of 10 percent. We all know what happened to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Right?

Well, let me refresh your memory. The taxpayers are on the hook for more than $100 billion in losses and still counting. The FHA is heading down that same road and soon will be hitting the taxpayers up to bail them out, and what was the major reason for its losses? Simple, it made too many loans with a low down payments (the 3 percent) and, when the real estate market headed south for the winter, they were left with the worthless real estate as borrowers just walked away. Or, should I say, the taxpayers will be left with the worthless real estate.

I wish Stucker the best of luck, but let’s face it, taxpayers: If the FHA keeps making these loans, get ready for round two of the bailouts, while those who walk away get to live rent-free with no penalty.

‘On vacation,’ again

NORTH TUSTIN, Hal Marshall:The national news recently provided a good example of why our country is in danger of going the way of the Roman Empire. While there is a desperate need for action to resolve our budget issues by March 1 because of “sequestration,” and to determine who will become our next secretary of defense, Congress is on a week-long holiday until Feb. 26, and the president played golf with Tiger Woods in Florida. What are we paying these dilettantes for, anyway?

Instead of spending exorbitant amounts of taxpayer money flying around the country for holidays and golf, our elected representatives should be at their desks, diligently working on solutions to our serious problems.

If we voters won’t elect presidents, congressmen and senators who will act on their public responsibilities rather than on their personal desires for fun and games, we deserve exactly what the Romans got. Remember that when the next election comes around.

Partisan politics impede

TUSTIN, Bob Machado: We constantly hear from Republicans about the deficit and the need for shrinking the federal government. They talk about the need to cut entitlements as the basis for shrinking the deficit and blame Obama and the Democrats for not cutting spending and, instead, making government bigger.

Although there is a need to come to grips with the future of Social Security and Medicare, it is a proven fact that Social Security and Medicare, at present, have not contributed one penny to the deficit. The Republicans try and hide this fact since it is easier to blame Obama and the American people who rely on these programs rather than their corporate masters. They also won’t tell the American people that the number of people working for the government has shrunk in the past four years.

A major portion of the deficit is due to the interest payments that have initially occurred due to the unfunded wars, tax cuts and the Medicare prescription drug plan. The upcoming sequestration will do nothing to reduce the interest on the public debt. The interest will keep on growing no matter how much spending is cut. Until both Republicans and Democrats put partisan politics aside and deal with this problem and others, regardless of their chances for reelection, the country will be faced with a major economic disaster in the not-too-distant future.

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